


Metal Heart

by FailureArtist



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Afterlife, Backstory, Death, F/M, Ghosts, Guilt, Moirails, Moirallegiance, Murder, Robots, The Trolls - Freeform, Unrequited Love, pre-Veil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-07
Updated: 2011-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-14 12:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FailureArtist/pseuds/FailureArtist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at Sollux and Aradia's troubled relationship, pre-Veil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Metal Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Italics mean flashback. Flashbacks are not in strict chronological order. Sollux speaks with a SLIGHT lisp that gets worse with stress.

_"I wonder what it's like to die," Aradia said.  
There was no prompt for this question. Aradia and Sollux were just laying on the grass outside her hut, looking at the stars. Due to the distance between them (in more ways than one), Sollux only came over if Aradia had some computer problem she needed fixing. The problem had been easy this night and Sollux fixed it with time to spare. It seemed actually that Aradia had been having more dire-but-easily-fixed problems with her old computer.  
Sollux looked over at Aradia. She did not seem unhappy at all. In fact she was very cheerful. She asked the question innocently, like a larva wondering why windows have twelve panes.  
Sollux replied, "Well, the blood bladder stopth pumping blood, the lack of blood cautheth brain functionth to ceathe, you lose control of your bowelth…"  
"Silly, I know WHAT happens when you die," Aradia interrupted, "I want to know HOW it feels."  
"Why are you asking me? You can communicate with the dead better than me. They mostly just yell at me."  
"Yeah, they mostly just cry to me about revenge or grief. I can find out from them where their artifacts are, but you can't really carry on a coherent conversation. They're always so confused."  
Sollux nodded. "It makes senthe. As I said, brain functions ceathe. They probably don't even remember they're dead."  
"What? How could you forget that?"  
"Well, memory is a proceth. If something dithrupth that proceth, the memory can't be recorded. Short-term memory loth happens to trolls that thuffer a blow to the head, and it must be worse if you lothe your entire head."  
"I'm sure the ghosts I've talked to aren't amnesiacs. They remember things from their past life."  
"That's just the thing," Sollux replied, "I'm not sure that these ghosts really are thimply continuationth of a life after death. They're more like…data remanence of a file that hasn't been deleted completely."  
"In laytroll's terms?"  
"Ghosts are like…echoeth of feelingth….and memorieth. The troll is gone, but their perthonality is so strong that it remainth thomehow."  
"But the troll is dead."  
"Yes. There is no concitheness after death."  
There was a breeze.  
Aradia broke the silence. "But hey, as long as the echoes know where the ointment jars are, who cares about the metaphysical stuff?" she said all too happily.  
"Yeah, that's true."  
Aradia then said somberly, "I bet it hurts when you die."  
Sollux felt something touch his hand. It was Aradia.  
"I want you to be there when I die," she said.  
_

__Sollux dug through the still burning hot wreckage of Aradia's hut with his bare hands. He had just came to seconds ago, an empty jar of honey in his hand, his psionic energy spent. He had an idea of what had happened, or rather, what he had done, but he ignored this and immediately ran to the fallen hut and started digging. The action of digging with his hands, trying to find anything remotely familiar, distracted him from thinking the inevitable but soon his yellow tears blinded him. He couldn't help but try and think of what had happened.  
He put two and two together. He knew that Aradia had been fighting with a griefer named Vriska. The blue blood had unusual psychic powers for her caste and wasn't afraid to use them. The maroon-blooded Aradia was in no danger from a psychic attack, so if Vriska wanted to take revenge without getting her hands dirty, she needed a proxy. Someone with strong powers of their own. Someone who Aradia would lower her defenses for. And Sollux had been available at the time._ _

  
Oh dear Mother Grub, why hadn't he chained himself up? Every time he went through that period he thought about doing that. He certainly had the equipment to do that for his lusus. Every time he thought that, he just told himself he was being overly dramatic and just silly. Besides, he wouldn't be able to do anything chained up and it was such a creative time for him. Creative, hah, he had just destroyed a house in his "creative" stage. Good going, Sollux, if you weren't afraid of being bored for a couple nights she would still be…  
Sollux dug through the wreckage faster and dug through his memories with even more desperation. He hoped he would find some memory exonerating him. Maybe a meteor had crashed into her hive coincidently at the same time he arrived? Maybe she just left the food heater running while she explored a ruin? Maybe she knew what was coming and left? No, he remembered her face. It made him wonder if Vriska also had powers over memory, because the cruel image of her face when she saw him was burned into his mind. She must have known what was going to happen. Yet there she was so happy just to see him. He then remembered she was always that happy to see him.  
Sollux threw his head up.  
"AA! I LOVE YOU," he screamed, "PALELY!"  
Good going, Sollux, he thought to himself. The girl is dying (dying?) and here you are shoving her into the moirail-zone. It wouldn't be the first time he'd shoved her into that quadrant.

_Sollux was down on his knees in front of Aradia.  
"Tho what do you thay?" he added, his lisp growing worse with the tension.  
"Well, um, but everyone said we'd…" Aradia stuttered.  
She looked at Sollux's eyes. He had taken off his glasses and was squinting. The normally cool kid was sweating. He was in a strange un-air-conditioned hive in the country. He was out of his element. He looked so sweet.  
"Yes, I'll be your moirail," Aradia said hollowly.  
"Oh really! Thank you, thank you," he cried as he hugged her. Aradia tried to enjoy the hug but couldn't.  
Sollux continued talking as he paced around the hut, "I promithe I wouldn't be a burden to you, I thwear, I know I have a dithorder but I take my medicine, you won't have to nag me about it, and I'll help you with any computer problem, no, better, I'll get you a new computer and, and altho a dehumidifier so your artifacth won't crumble in the heat, and, and, there'th jutht tho much I'll do."  
Before Sollux could mention more ways to make her low-blood country hive high-tech, Aradia awkwardly segued the conversation. "So, now that you've filled one quadrant, is there someone or someones you're thinking of for the Concupisent quadrants?"  
Sollux put back on his glasses and answered, "Fourth bilunar perigree, 1st light season, solar sweep XXX3."  
"What?"  
"That'th when the Imperial Drone vithit me. I hacked the databathe. Really eathy."  
"So you're just going to pick up two trolls when that time comes and mate with them?"  
Sollux frowned in disgust. "No, nothing thleazy like that. I'll spend a whole thweep or two looking for the beth match. But I still have plenty of time. Why worry about reproduction when you're not even a nymph yet?"  
"Concupisent relationships are about more than reproduction, aren't they?" Aradia asked.  
"KK would say tho, but he's obsethed with romance. Practically worshipth at the worshipterrium of the Larva God of the Holy Quadrants. Funny, I couldn't even find his name in the Imperial Drone Database."  
"But he isn't the only one interested in it. Almost every movie is about romance."  
"Almotht every movie is crap. AA, you know hithtory. You've theen the murals on the ruinth. The ancienth weren't as obsethed with that stuff. They had cooler thingth to think about. When a warrior thmote hith enemy he didn't write an epic poem about how pretty their eyeth were. Now that mad hornographic stuff is everywhere."  
"Yes, I know," Aradia sighed, "I just find it strange you're the only troll our age who doesn't seem to care about mating."  
"Look," Sollux said as he grabbed Aradia's hands, "I'm not a eunuch. My lutht bladder is pumping just ath much ath the next troll. I do dethire a kithmethith…and a matethprit."  
Aradia's pale skin blushed slightly.  
Sollux continued, "But this isn't the time for that. As they thay, love-hate maketh you crazy, and I'm already crazy enough as it is. I need someone to make me stable. I need you, and I want you."  
"I won't make you go crazy," Aradia said.  
Sollux hugged her again. "Oh Mother Grub, I'm the luckieth troll ever to have a moirail like you."_

Sollux thought it was doubly unlucky that the closest hive to Aradia's was Tavros's. It was painful telling that still larva-like boy the horrible news about his FLARPing friend. His big eyes immediately filled up with big brown tears that poured down without any self-consciousness. Worse of all, Tavros couldn't help at all with search and evacuation. The disabled boy was still learning how to get in and out of his recuperacoon. All he could do is let his hive be used as communication hub for the terrible news.  
In immediately retrospect, it was a bad idea to tell Terezi first. Terezi was obsessed with justice and wouldn't let it stew for a couple moon segments like Aradia. She struck out and was rewarded with two burnt eyes. In a broader retrospect, it turned out all right for Terezi. She finally met her lusus and gained greater power. Sollux often tried to cheer himself up with that thought but it never worked.  
So Aradia's hut was examined and searched through and her body never found. What remained of her lusus was giving a sky burial. Sollux went back to his life now without a moirail. He spent more time working on his computer. He wrote more code than he ever had before, sometimes staying up late into the day. He didn't like to sleep because he had dreams of Aradia, even after replacing the soper slime twice. Without his moirail he leaned on Karkat more. Whenever he felt bad he'd troll Karkat and they'd get into some stupid argument and Sollux would log off feeling angry at Karkat, and then start laughing at how silly it all was. Sollux started thinking of Karkat as a new moirail, though he would never tell him that, as the romance-obsessed boy would make an imperial case of it. He even watched some movies with Karkat, though Sollux could only stand to watch black romance due to his loss.  
So Sollux tried to live his life as normally as possible, but all along he kept as vague hope she was still alive, based on some visions, a lack of body, and the ambiguous words of that horrible white text guy. He wasn't entirely surprised when he logged on to his computer to find this message:

\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA] (offline)  
AA: hell0  
\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] has ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA] (offline)

Sollux looked at the time stamp. Only a few minutes before he woke up that evening! Again Sollux cursed sleep. He tried to troll her back, but Trollian still maintained that she was dead and thus unreachable. He traced the message and was puzzled to find out it came from a cave that shouldn't have any internet access. He decided to troll Terezi about this.

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling gallowCalibrator [GC]  
TA: TZ ii need two talk  
GC: WOW WH4T 4R3 YOU DO1NG UP SO 34RLY? USU4LLY YOU SL4M SO MUCH D1SGUST1NG 3N3RGY DR1NK YOU'R3 4W4K3 4LL D4Y 4ND 4SL33P 4LL N1GHT  
GC: W3LCOM3 TO TH3 3V3N1NG CR3W FR13ND H3H3H3  
TA: thiis ii2 2eriiou2  
TA: AA ju2t trolled me.  
GC: WH4T?  
GC: TH4T HUG3 B1TCH 1S PR4NK1NG YOU  
GC: HOW FUCK1NG T4ST3L3SS PR3T3ND1NG TO B3 4 D34D G1RL  
TA: no AA saiid "hell0" wiith ju2t one 0  
TA: vrii2ka couldnt re2ii2t u2iing eiight 0  
TA: plu2 iit came from a cave mile2 away from her hiive  
GC: SO TH3 D34D C4N US3 CH4T CL13NTS NOW?  
TA: ii wii2h then ii could ju2t block the bugger2  
TA: no the dead dont 2eem to be able to u2e computer2  
GC: OK4Y YOU'R3 TH3 3XP3RT ON SPOOKY TH1NGS  
GC: TH4NK GRUB 1 C4NT H34R TH3 D34D OTH3RW1S3 TH3 CR13S OF TH3 SC4L3M4T3S WOULD H4UNT M3  
TA: oh grub tho2e iimpudent thiing2  
TA: anyway diid you 2ave the chatlog wiith the whiite text2 guy?  
GC: Y34H BUT TH3 F1L3 GOT CORRUPT3D  
GC: UGH JUST TH1NK1NG 4BOUT H1M L34V3S 4 W31RD T4ST3 1N MY MOUTH  
TA: but he2 not a liiar riight?  
GC: Y34H H3'D N3V3R L13D  
GC: BUT  
GC: YOU C4N D3CI3V3 P3OPL3 W1THOUT T3LL1NG 4 S1NGL3 L13  
TA: but he diid 2ay we would beliieve that aradiia ii2 dead  
TA: beliieve TZ  
TA: not aradiia ii2 dead but that we beliieve her to be dead  
GC: TH4T'S WH4T 1 M34N  
GC: M4YB3 H3 W4S B31NG D3SCR1B1TV3 4ND NOT PR3SCR1B1T1V3  
GC: W3 B3L13V3 4R4D14 1S D34D B3C4US3 SH3 1S DE4D  
TA: maybe he2 triickiing u2 iinto thiinking that  
TA: iit all add2 up TZ  
TA: AA had two know that vrii2ka wa2 plottiing revenge  
TA: no body wa2 found and ii never heard a cry from her  
TA: iive had vii2on2 of her  
TA: and gho2t2 dont know shiit about computer2!  
GC: WOW MUST4RD  
GC: WHY 4R3 YOU SO B3NT ON H3R B31NG 4L1V3?  
GC: 1 M34N HURR4Y YOU D1DNT K1LL H3R  
GC: BUT YOU 4LMOST K1LL3D H3R  
GC: AND D3STROY3D H3R H1V3 4ND H3R LUSUS 4ND 4LL H3R COOL STUFF  
GC: 1F 1T W4S M3 YOU'D B3 H4NG1NG FROM 4 TR33  
TA: oh fuck youre riight

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling gallowCalibrators [GC]

 

Luckily (or unluckily), Sollux didn't have to wait long to talk to this mysterious troll. A new message came up before he had time to go completely into panic mode.

\-- apocalypseArisen [AA] has begun trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

AA: hell0 again  
TA: oh AA you came back again  
TA: where are you?  
TA: are you okay?  
AA: i am in a cave  
AA: i am 0kay  
TA: what happened?  
TA: what are you doiing iin a cave?  
AA: i w0ke up and the v0ices t0ld me to c0me here  
AA: I am excavating ancient techn0l0gy  
TA: iim 2o glad youre okay and you found a place two 2tay  
TA: AA ii have 2omethiing iimportant two tell you

Sollux started slowly typing the message out.

_TA: AA iim 2orry ii kii22ed you  
AA: what? y0u're S0RRY y0u kissed me?  
TA: ii diidnt want two do iit  
TA: ii wa2 ju2t feeliing lonely  
AA: and iit wa2 periigree eve and iit 2eemed 2o romantic  
TA: but you freaked out and ran iinto the cold  
TA: 2o iim very very 2orry ii kii22ed you  
AA: please please st0p ap0ligizing  
TA: you wont take my apology?  
TA: iim being fuckiing 2iincere here AA  
TA: my heart2 ii2 riight out here on the keyboard driipiing iicky yellow blood onto my expeniive equiipment  
TA: iits really diigustiing and embarrassing  
TA: haviing to crawl on my knee2 because ii cant keep my grubby hand2 off my moirall  
AA: 0h w0w  
AA: an autistic girl in a cave gets it better than y0u  
TA: what the hell ii2 that 2uppo2e2 to mean?  
AA: nevermind  
AA: i get it  
AA: you d0n't want t0 waste y0ur preci0us yellow-green genetic material 0n a peasant girl like me  
AA: but y0ur lust bladder started pumping and there werent any princesses ar0und s0 y0u said welp any p0rt in a throm  
AA: y0u kn0w in 0lden times a tr0ll c0uld be hanged f0r deceiving a gentletr0ll like that  
TA: ii dont even know where two 2tart with that  
TA: what doe2 my blood have two do with anything?  
TA: why would ii ever be wiith a prince22?  
TA: TZ told you there were law2 again2t kii22iing?  
AA: i'm s0rry i'm ranting  
AA: I kn0w y0u d0n't understand  
AA: that's why i like y0u s0 much  
TA: are you 2tiill angry?  
AA: n0, i'm n0 g00d at being angry  
AA: i guess i f0rgive y0u  
TA: are we 2tiill moiirall?  
TA: ii would never want to lo2e you a2 a moiirall  
AA: 0f c0urse dear  
AA: i kn0w_

AA: i kn0w what y0u are ab0ut to type  
AA: y0u d0 n0t need to ap0ligize t0 me  
AA: i kn0w that vriska c0ntr0lled y0u

Sollux's hands freezed above the keyboard. He wanted to apologize anyway. Mind-control or not, he still felt he had a responsibility to make sure he wasn't a danger to anyone, especially his moirall. That point brought him to another thing he wanted to talk about.

TA: iim glad ii gue22 that you forgiive me for my de2truction  
TA: but ii really have been thiinkiing about our relatiion2hiip  
TA: ii told you when we 2tarted that ii would never be a burden two you  
TA: ii know thiis ii2nt the be2t tiime two tell you  
AA: I kn0w what y0u are g0ing to say  
AA: y0u want t0 end this tr0ll relati0nship called m0irallegiance  
AA: i am 0kay with this  
TA: really becau2e ii am 2o relieved  
TA: iim freakiing pumped that everythiing i2 goiing two be 0kay  
TA: dont worry about me KK ha2 been fu22ing and meddling for you  
TA: ii probably 2houldnt tell you that  
AA: en0ugh 0f this em0ti0ns and relati0nships and 0ther filler crap  
AA: i f0und s0mething for y0u

And so that's how Aradia told him about The Game. It was great working on something together. Even though they weren't moirails anymore Sollux still felt close to Aradia. However, even Sollux had to notice she was acting strange. She was emotionless, distant, and she used her psychic powers more instead of being ashamed of them. At first Sollux thought it was just because she still upset with him, but then Terezi reported the same response. Along with this personality change, there was also the question of how exactly she survived the incident. By Aradia's strange account she hadn't ran away or hide when Sollux went on his psychic rampage. She had just woken up later and went on with her life. Now Aradia was a hearty troll but that seemed rather improbable. When Sollux pushed her further she just said she was "str0ng" and pushed him back to The Game.  
Ah, The Game. Sollux was ashamed to say he was indecisive about it, but in his defense it made sense to be freaking indecisive about the freaking End of the World, or at least he thought so sometimes. Aradia put an end to his indecisiveness. The Game went ahead anyway, just like Aradia said it would. Most of the session was a big blur to him. He spent a lot of it sleeping, tormented by voices, influenced mind honey, or bleeding from his orifices. Still, he will never forget when he finally found out the truth about Aradia. He had just woken up from another mind honey bender and was now hurrying to put things together.

\-- twinArmaggedons [TA] has begun trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] –-

TA: AC good youre around  
AC: :33 *the kitty pawses from licking her bloody claws to gr33t the honeybear!*  
TA: diid you get two the mediium okay  
TA: honeybear?  
AC: :33 i couldn't think of a good animal but your lusus is kind of like a bear with the honey  
AC: :33 *um the kitty meows*  
TA: your 2erver player i2 CT right?  
TA: everythiing alriight there?  
AC: :33 *ac purrs about her awesome moirail!*  
AC: :33 *she is glad that ta put his moirail on his team, the smart little bear!*  
TA: were not exactly moiiraiil but  
TA: waiit iisnt AA Zahhak2 2erver player?  
AC: :33 isn't this your game?  
AC: :33 *um, the confused cat says to the lonely bear*  
TA: oh fuck that wa2 poor planiing  
TA: youre her 2erver player  
TA: how diid thiing2 go?  
AC: :33 *the kitty lifts her eyes to the sky thoughtfully and meows*  
AC: :33 'first the spooky girl was angry at equius and she hissed at him but then she pounced on him and gave him a big robo-smooch!'  
AC: i probably shouldn't have told you that  
TA: robo-2mooch?  
AC: :33 Yeah, equius built a robot for her!  
TA: why would he buiild a robot for her?  
AC: :33 because she had no body!  
AC: oops I really REALLY shouldn't have told you that  
TA: ii gue22 the cat  
TA: ii2 out of the bag

_"Yeaaah!" cried Aradia as Sollux floated down to her front lawnring, "You came!"  
"Hi AA," Sollux greeted back.  
"Did you have any problems getting here? Are you tired?"  
"No, I'm fine. It is kind of late, though. I may have to stay at your hive to avoid daylight, if that'th no problem for you."  
Aradia's face beamed like the sun Sollux hoped to avoid. "No, no problem at all!"  
"Tho, you found thome cool thingth thith time in the ruinth?"  
"Yeah, I found this great tea set but I guess you aren't interested in that, but I also found this ancient radio and…" Aradia stopped to look at something on the horizon, "Oh no, it's HIM."  
Sollux turned around and looked at the horizon too. "Who?"  
"Did you see him when you came over? Of course not, you were flying," Aradia replied.  
Sollux finally saw what she was talking about. On a small bump on the otherwise flat hill was a tall muscular male troll with long hair and black shades. He was a teenager like them, maybe seven sweeps though his face looked a bit younger. He was staring with his mouth open and even at this distance Sollux could tell he was sweating.  
"Don't look at him!" Aradia said as she turned Sollux around, "That's Equius Zahhak. He's Vriska's neighbor. He comes over here every night to watch me do my twilight exercises."  
"Hmm, I'd heard about Zahhak'th roboth but I didn't know the creator was thuch a creep," Sollux said, and then did a delayed double take, "Wait, Vrithka'th neighbor?"  
"Yep."  
"That'th mileth away from here! You tell me thith guy goeth out into the thun and walkth mileth to thee you in thanpdex?"  
"Yeah, it's almost sweet if not really creepy," Aradia said, "It's given him a bit of tan. Certainly helped his legs."  
Aradia disregarded her own advice and looked at her stalker, still standing on the hill.  
She continued, "It's like something out of those old romance novels, the kind Kanaya would read, I mean. A dark, brooding, red-blooded man-troll gazing over the moors at his forbidden love."  
"We're on a moor?" Sollux asked, "I thought a moor was a type of lake."  
Aradia laughed. "You really are a city-slicker. But yeah, my mystery suitor isn't a red-blood. He's a blue-blood and incredible proud of it."  
"Is that above yellow blood or below it?"  
"I can't believe you can never remember the color code."  
"As you said, I'm a city-thlicker. Everyone liveth on top of each other tho they can't worry about purity. It only really matterth if you have purple or red blood."  
"Well, blue blood is supposed to be better than yellow blood or even green blood. They just end up being to most annoying ones, because they're high enough to look down on everyone, but not high enough to have the privileges of purple blood. Equius Zahhak is the worst about the caste system."  
"You certainly know a lot about your thtalker," Sollux said suspiciously.  
Aradia looked at Equius, and then looked back at Sollux.  
"How would you feel if I was in a Concupisent relationship with Zahhak?" she asked.  
"Red or black?" Sollux asked, then added, "But would a jerk like him want to be in red relationship with you? Would he want a black relationthip inthead? Or are blue bloodth not thuppothed to hate lower bloodth? I don't know."  
"EITHER," Aradia said, then added seductively, "Just, if we were in a sexual relationship."  
"Why would you be in a thexual relationthip with him?"  
"Well, he is handsome, conventionally, I mean, dear. He works out instead just using psionics. I've heard he has an interest in the arts though I don't know if his taste is any good," Aradia explained, "But this is all rhetorical, of course."  
"Hmmm…"  
"Well?"  
"I guess as Quadrant buddieth I'd have to hang out with the creep," Sollux answered, "We could talk roboticth together. But if he inthulth my programming…I could stand him being a douche about being a blue blood but not him being a douche about being a hardware guy."  
Aradia looked disappointed.  
"So," Sollux said, "about that radio…"_

Sollux was not a jealous troll. Still, Nepeta had thrown three disturbing revelations at him all at once: 1. Aradia was actually dead, 2. she was in a double reacharound relationship with her stalker Zahhak, and 3. Sollux was totally wrong about ectobiology. He threw out a lame joke, but inside he was debating which one was the worst revelation.  
Since Sollux wasn't a jealous troll, and as he told himself he didn't have a mating fondness for Aradia, he was mostly alarmed that he was a step from the creepy staring guy. They couldn't both be Aradia's type! What did he have in common with him? It was so weird.  
No, it was much worst that Aradia had been dead all along. His heart had been dragged up and down throughout this whole mess. First he thought she was dead (dead by his hands!), then just as he lost hope she turned up alive and willing to forgive him (but did she actually forgive him?). Now she had died all over for him. He felt betrayed. Had she lied to him? Or did she not know she was dead?  
Maybe he was actually right about ectobiology, at least partially. The dead really are amnesiacs. That would explain her personality change. Sollux used this to explain why she was with Equius. He ignored the bile fascination she had with Equius when she was alive. That was probably better for his recovery.  
What helped more with his recovery was that The Game didn't let him stop to think about this. After that revelation, he had to brave the glub and save Feferi's life at great cost to himself. In return she saved him. They spent most of the game side by side. This led to her ex-something attacking them. When that distraction was over, he met Aradia again for the first time since she died.

_"Sollux," Aradia said, "I hope I can see you again after I die."_

Sollux was sitting on a brain while Feferi checked his wounds.  
"I'm okay, FF," he said, "It's just a thratch."  
"Oh you boys," she cooed, "You al-ways say stuff like that. Look at all this blood!"  
"Head woundth jutht produce a lot of blood."  
"They also produce cod-cussions! You have to be careful!"  
Feferi wrapped a bandage around his head. She stood back to look at her handiwork.  
"I am so sor-ry about my ex," she said.  
"As I thaid, Ampora didn't hurt me that much. He pretty much gave up after you joined in."  
"Yes, I know he tends to play fight," she replied, "but still, I feel bad that you have to deal with all my baggage. With all the dan-ger in this game you shouldn't have to worry about exes pop-ping up to attack you."  
In a flash of ironic timing, Aradia appeared in front of Sollux. He stared at metal exterior, not sure if she was the effect of his cod-cussion or not. Then, Aradia robo-slapped him.  
"Y0U D0N'T TEXT MESSAGE BREAK-UP!" she yelled, and then disappeared.  
Feferi stared at the space the Aradiabot had left.  
"WHAT THE GLUB WAS THAT?" she yelled.  
"The Maid of Time," Sollux answered.  
"She's been a roe-bot this whole time?"  
"It's a long thtory."  
He rubbed the yellow handprint on his cheek. She hadn't hit hard, just hard enough to make a point. He finally understood. He spent a thoughtful moment looking at Feferi.  
"By the way," he asked, "FF, how do you feel about me?"

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted November 19, 2010 at deviantArt under Hysterical-Woman.
> 
> Metal Heart: Title taken from a song by Garbage. Midway through the fic I wondered who it referred to.  
> I bet it hurts when you die: Inspired by Serial Experiment Lain.  
> Fourth bilunar perigree, 1st light season, solar sweep XXX3: I don't know how the Alternian calender works. XXX3 mirrors old videogames where the year was 19XX. Notice that Sollux doesn't have lisp when reciting this.  
> Sky Burial: Fancy way of saying "feed to the birds". The Tibetans practice this method of burial.  
> hanged: On Earth it used to be against the law to sleep with an unmarried woman by promising to marry her and reneging on it. It was called Seduction.  
> A dark, brooding, red-blooded man-troll gazing over the moors at his forbidden love: I couldn't think of a good troll name for Heathcliffe. A troll Wuthering Heights would be fascinating though.  
> YOU DON'T TEXT MESSAGE BREAKUP: Reference to this: http://youtu.be/nb0s1AePP2g


End file.
